Settimana Coppi e Bartali: Palini triumphs after long day in break

Team Idea’s Andrea Palini triumphed on the first day of the Settimana Coppi e Bartali in Italy, being the quickest out of a breakaway group which finished just ahead of the main bunch.

He beat Cesare Benedetti (Team NetApp), Pieter Serry (Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator), Gabriele Bosisio (Utensilnord Named) and the rest of the field to the line in Riccione, and will wear the leader’s jersey tomorrow.

The 2.1 event began with a 140.8 kilometre race from Misano Adriatico and early on five riders got clear, namely Palini, Sven Erik Byström (Oster Hus - Ridley), Dalivier Navarro Ospina (Colombia Coldportes), Will Routley (Spidertech C10) and Matteo Fedi (Utensilnord – Named). They worked hard together but didn’t build a lead of more than three minutes.

Fedi cracked after two and half hours of racing, with Navarro also losing his place up front soon afterwards. The remaining three riders were bolstered by the addition of six more, who got across with ten kilometres to go. The bunch chased hard but couldn’t quite get back in contact soon enough to fight for the win.

Instead, Palini did enough to hold off the merging peloton, completing his day out front with a good victory.